Kevin Rudd will serve as Australia’s next ambassador to the United States.
Anthony Albanese said the former prime minister’s move into the prestigious Washington role in March next year will ”strengthen Australia’s diplomatic capability and its prosecution of our national interests around the globe”.
“Kevin Rudd is an outstanding appointment, he brings a great deal of credit to Australia by agreeing to this,” Albanese said today as he made the announcement alongside Penny Wong ahead of her trip to Beijing.
“He brings unmatched experience to the role. He has served as prime minister, foreign minister, held prominent academic roles and worked extensively in the United States.”
The three-year appointment is currently held by former Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos, whose term ends in February.
Rudd is currently the head of the Asia Society think tank and has lived in the US for “the most part of a decade”.
He said he was “greatly honoured” by the appointment in Australia’s “most challenging security and diplomatic environment for many decades”.
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“Australia currently faces its most challenging security and diplomatic environment for many decades,” Rudd said in a statement.
“Our national interest continues to be served, as it has for decades past, by the deepest and most effective strategic engagement of the United States in our region.”
The former PM said over the past decade, he’s “had the pleasure of building relationships with republicans and democrats across politics” and has “developed close personal ties with American business, civil society and the media.”
Heather Ridout, former chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, was also announced as the new consul-general.
She is the first woman to be appointed to the New York role.
